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Donations are Appreciated! If you would like to make a donation directly to Floaters, to purchase an artwork from one of the artists, or to purchase silver jewelry from our Mixtecan partners in Mexico, please send email to floaters@asu.edu. Your request will be forwarded to the appropriate Floaters member. Our ebay site should be up again in February. Reuse or Recyle Your Old Computer!
Floaters.org and Easter Seals of Arizona presented a panel discussion on "What To Do With Those Old Computers" on March 17, 2003, as part of the Microcomputers in Education (MEC) conference.
What can you do with those old computers? First, think about whether the computer can be reused or whether it should be recycled.
If the computer still works, then it can be reused.
Floaters.org is located in Tempe,
Arizona. We accept working computers, but don't have the funds to repair or refurbish broken computers. Computers donated to Floaters may be used directly
in the program, may be old to benefit the program, may be donated to churches or even taken to a village in Mexico!
If you have a computer to donate, you may wish to wipe the hard drive (if you don't do this, however, we will).
However, please don't remove any drives, upgrades, memory that you have added, etc.
We may want to install a newer operating system and newer applications than the computer came with,
and these usually require more memory than your computer had originally. We don't have much spare memory to replace any that you remove. We do have some spare parts and may have a replacement if, for instance, your CD-ROM drive no longer works, but of course we like to hold on to these for use when a computer already in service is broken.
If your computer won't turn on/boot up, it may be just a battery problem. We can diagnose this for you.
If your computer is just a shell, if most of the parts have been removed, please don't donate it to a non-profit group as they will just have to recycle it! We already recycle broken Floaters.org computers, by taking out the useful parts (memory, CD-ROM drives) and then taking the rest of the computer to a reputable recycler. It is really important to find a reputable recycler, as toxic chemicals can leak from the computer or monitor into a landfill. Of course it is also important to check that any non-profit agency you donate a computer to has this same policy.
For more information on the reuse and recycling of old computers and monitors, check this website: http://www.earth911.org/. The Earth911 site supplies local information for many areas.
Send email to
floaters@asu.edu. The group would love to hear from you.
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